Cherry coffee table

great looking table,i’ve been using the danish oil lately on every project with wipe on poly.sorry i’m not much help but theres some smart people on here that should chime in.

-- Marty.Athens,AL

If it were me I would use Waterlox original. Wipe on about six coats, let it cure for 30 days and rub it out. Waterlox will make it “pop” as it has Tung oil in it. Waterlox will provide a durable finish for a man cave. The cherry will darken over time even in a basement.
I do not like poly as it gives the wood a plastic look

-- Jerry

That piece came from what I could salvage from an old twisted/checked/bowed chunk of what was a beam. I used a Zar product in cherry finish. Was very light when I made it but a few years later it has developed a darker patina. Given all the worm-holes/tracks on that piece it looks more like an antique now.

I was just experimenting with cherry and pine who both are prone to blotching for a piece I am about to finish.

Indeed gels will eliminate blotching but they change the color. Another option which works well enough is to first use a coat of wax-free shellac diluted to 1lb cut or less. Let it dry and very lightly sand with 320 to remove the nibs. Apply your oil stain on top of that. The shellac will partially seal the cherry (but not completely since its a very diluted one) and allow for the oil stain to penetrate evenly rather than blotch.

I did not come up with this idea, it is a technique that is described by Bob Flexner in his book “Flexner on Finishing”.

Once you are satisfied with the look of it, lock in the stain by another few coats of dewaxed shellacs, making sure its dry between coats and using 320 grits each coat. After that’s dry, you can apply any kind of polyurethane or other varnish to make it durable.

-- Yves

Stain or not, according to your taste, but it deserves a real finish. Top with either waterborne or oil poly.

-- Clint Searl....Ya can no more do what ya don't know how than ya can git back from where ya ain't been

I have a cherry table also that Im gettin ready to finish will post afterwhile

-- Staining killed the wood<<<<<>>>>>Dyeing gave it life

Just realized I never did post a picture of the finished product. Several applications of Danish oil top coated with wipe on poly. This photo was taken approx a year ago, the cherry is darkening nicely now

A 50/50 mix of BLO and mineral spirits to pop the grain, then wipe on oil base poly, my favorite is min wax gloss or statin to your taste. Mine handles a lot of Vodka Martini spills!!!

-- Knowledge and experience equals Wisdom, Michael Frankowski